Unitary water heater



April 16, 1940. c. E. COBB 2,197,298

UNITARY WATER HEATER Filed April 27, 1958 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR ATTO R N EYS April 16, 1940. c. E. COBB UNITARY WATER HEATER Filed April 27, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 16, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2 Claims,

This invention relates to single unit hot water heaters.

The prime object of the invention is to improve generally upon unitary heaters and particularly I in simplifying the structure and securing economy not only in first cost but in operation and maintenance and at the same time increasing the practicability and efficiency of such devices.

Further and more specific objects and advanl0 tages to be attained will hereinafter more fully appear in the following description.

The invention consists in the novel general structure and in the particular parts and combinations and arrangements of parts as hereinafter described and set forth in the appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings illustrating a practical "adaptation of the invention, and in which- Figure 1 is a front elevation of the unit; Figure 2 is a transverse vertical section of the unit on an enlarged scale;

Figure 3 is a, longitudinal vertical section, also on an enlarged scale;

Figure 4 is a rear elevation of the unit; and Figure 5 is a diagram illustrating the circuits for the electric motor and heating element of the unit and the controlling elements thereof.

Referring now to the drawings, the numeral ill designates the outer casing of the unit which, as shown, is generally rectangular but substantially streamlined in form, that is to say, the side, end, bottom and top walls are generally flat but all corners are rounded, as at H.

In the lower portion of the casing III is a water heating chamber l2 comprising a hollow shell I! which is supported in spaced relation to the adjacent bottom, side and end walls of the casing III, while in the upper portion of the casing III is a hollow shell it which is also spaced from the casing 10 and contains the heat transfer and radiating elements to be presently described. The upper shell I4 is located adjacent the front wall of the casing Ill but it is spaced a considerable distance from the rear wall thereof, which spaceprovides an air chamber l5.

Within the shell l4, near the opposite ends thereof, are vertical partitions l6 providing headers or manifold chambers it which are connected by transverse horizontal tubes i1 and through which the heated water from the chamber i2 is circulated. Generally stated, the shell I4 is open for the passage of air from the chamber l5 therethrough in the space between said partition walls It and said cross connecting tubes II II oi the headers or manifold chambers, the

air being drawn into said chamber l5 through an opening I! in the rear wall of the casing l0 and forced through the shell I4 by an electric fan I! whose motor 20 is supported centrally of said opening it by spider arms 2| which are attached 5 at their ends to the adjacent wall portions of the casing ill at points radially about said opening I8. In the front wall of the casing III is a circular outlet opening 22 for the air which is passed through said shell l4, said outlet open- 10' ing 22 being provided with a multiplicity of shutters 23 for regulating the air flow therethrough and for controlling the direction in which the air travels from said opening 22.

The lower water heating chamber I2 is pro- 15 vided with a supply pipe 24 leading from a source of water supply under sufllcient pressure to till the heating chamber l2 and the headers or manifold chambers and the respective cross connecting tubes I], said chamber l2 being conn nected to the upper portion of one of the headers or manifold chambers of the shell I by a pipe 25, the lower portion of the opposite header or manifold chamber being provided with an outlet 26 which is connected to a vertical pipe .5 21, the upper portion of said pipe 21 being extended to a plane above the water level of the headers and cross connecting tubes ll of the shell I4 and provided with an air vent valve 28, said pipe 21 being connected at its lower end to so the water supply pipe 24. In this connection, it is here noted that the water supply pipe 24 is provided with a cut-off valve (not shown) at some point within its length, said valve being closed after the respective chambers and con- '5 necting pipes are filled and during the operation of the heater.

In the adaptation of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings the headers or manifold chambers iii are divided by horizontal 4o partitions 29 into separate sub-chambers of different length, the chambers at one end of the shell It being staggered with relation to those at the opposite end and the arrangement of the cross connecting tubes II being'such that the 45 water has a tortuous passage through the radiator. That is to say, the shorter sub-chamber 30 is uppermost at one end of the shell I while the smaller chamber 3| at the opposite end is lowermost, the pipe 25 from the heating cham- 50 ber i2 leading into said upper sub-chamber 30 and the outlet pipe 28 leading from the opposite smaller chamber 3|. In this way the water heated in the chamber l2 circulates upwardly through the pipe 25 and through the sub-chamber a u and connecting bank of tubes i! into the larger chamber 32 which is located above the smaller chamber 3| at the opposite end of the shell I. From the chamber 32 the water is circulated back to the larger chamber 33 beneath said chamber 30 through the intermediate bank of said tubes ii and thence through the lowermost bank of the tubes IT to the chamber ii and from the chamber 3| back to the heating chamber I! through the outlet pipe 26 and return pipe 21 leading to the supply pipe 24.

An electrical heating element 34 is conventionally shown in the chamber l2, said element 34 being of any type suitable for heating the water in said chamber, and, for the purposes of the present invention, it is preferably provided with a self-contained regulatable thermostat for controlling the temperature of the water as heated by the element. 30, too, a thermostatic switch, adjustable for room temperature may be provided on the outer casing ID, as conventionally shown at 35, for controlling the fan motor. Also, a pressure relief valve 38 may be provided for the water heating chamber l2, said valve being provided in an outlet tube 31 leading to a suitable drain or sewer connection.

In Figure 5 a conventional diagram for the motor and heating element circuits and controlling device thereof is illustrated. As shown, one terminal each of the motor 20 and heating element 3 are respectively connected by the wires 38 and 39 to one of the line wires 40. The opposite line wire ll, having a switch 42 therein, is connected to a thermostatic switch U for the heating element circuit and also to a similar switch 44 in the motor circuit, it being understood that the controlling switch 43 is contained within or directly associated with the heating element unit within the water heating chamber 12 while the controlling switch 44 is positioned externally on the outer casing ill of the unit as indicated at 35 or it may be otherwise located upon or remote from the unit and subject to room temperature and regulatable in operative effect to stop the motor when the room temperature reaches a predetermined degree.

Obviously, for the passage of the air from the chamber l5 through the radiator shell I as hereinbefore stated, the front and rear walls of said shell are open throughout substantially the extent thereof except the immediate region of the end headers or manifold chambers, and to give ample rigidity to the structure without unduly blocking the passageway for the air through the shell i4 horizontal partitions 45 are provided between the vertical partitions 6, preferably in the planes of said partitions 29 which divide the headers or manifold chambers into their respective upper and lower sub-chambers.

For the ready transfer of the heat from the radiator to the air passing therethrough, heat conducting fins or sheets of copper or other metal having adequate heat conductivity are applied to the several cross connecting tubes H, as indicated by the multiplicity of vertical lines 46 in Figure 2 of the drawings.

Rock wool or other suitable insulating material I1 is provided in the unoccupied spaces between the shells i3 and II and surrounding wall portions of the outer casing III. For access to the lower portion of the outer casing l ll'acomparatively large opening may be provided, the same being normally closed by cover plate 48 as conventionally shown in Figure 1. So, too, an ordinary outlet box 49 having a removable cover plate I0, also conventionally shown, may be provided for the electrical circuit wiring within the casing Ill.

The unitary heater .0! the present invention is not only highly efficient in operation and readily regulatable for controlling the temperature of a room or space to be heated, but it is characterized by its compactness of structure and the minimization of space occupied in its installation. Furthermore, in some installations no floor space is used at all because the unit may be either supported on wall brackets or suspended from the ceiling, and even when supported from the floor very little space will be taken up, because, in such installation, the unit is usually mounted on a tall pedestal or hollow post and in such installations the water supply and drain tubing together with the electrical wiring may be concealed within the pedestal or post. It is further obvious that the unit may be utilized as a portable heater, in that the pipe 24 from a source of water supply may be eliminated and the water heating chamber and radiator system filled through the pipe 21 by removing the air vent valve 28 and replacing said valve after filling.

Obviously, the structure admits of considerable modification within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. The invention, therefore, is not limited to the specific construction and arrangements shown in the accompanying drawings.

What is claimed is:

l. A unitary heater of the character described, comprising a casing having a passageway through the upper portion thereof but otherwise closed, a heating chamber in the lower portion of said casing spaced from the adjacent walls thereof, a radiator shell in the upper portion of the casing and disposed across said passageway adjacent the front of the casing and being spaced from the surrounding casing walls, the space between the casing walls and the heating chamber and the radiator shell being packed with insulating material, an outflow pipe connecting said heating chamber and said radiator shell, and a return pipe connection between the radiator shell and the heating chamber and provided with an upward extension having a vent valve therein, said outflow and return pipe connections being imbedded in the insulating material.

2. The herein described unitary water heater, comprising a casing having a passageway through the upper portion thereof but otherwise closed, a heating chamber in the lower portion of said casing spaced from the adjacent walls thereof, a radiator shell in the upper portion of the casing and disposed across said passageway adjacent the front of the casing and being spaced from. the surrounding casing walls, the space between the casing walls and the heating chamber and the radiator shell being packed with insulating material, said radiator shell having conventional heat transfer elements with air passageways therebetween, an outflow pipe connecting said heating chamber and said radiator shell, a return pipe connection between the radiator shell and the heating chamber, said outflow and return pipe connections being imbedded in the insulating material, and means for creating an air blast in the rear portion of the upper passageway of the casing and directing the same through the air passages of the radiator shell with discharge from the front end of said passageway.

CHARLES EDWARD COBB. 

